July 1 - 4:55pm EDT   Apple and NVIDIA may be engaged in a fierce dispute that could exclude NVIDIA graphics chips from future Macs, according to sources reportedly aware of the talks. They claim to SemiAccurate that Apple views NVIDIA's proposals for renewed deals as "arrogance" and that much of the argument centers on the overheating material that triggered widespread failures in all GeForce 8400M and 8600M mobile graphics chips. The Mac firm has had to extend MacBook Pro warranties for up to three years and may be skeptical of NVIDIA's insistence that newer models aren't at risk of the same problem. [full story]

June 29 - 10:50am EDT   The batteries in Apple's new MacBook Pros hold up to testing, but have some definite tradeoffs, notes Walt Mossberg. The All Things Digital writer recently tested 13- and 15-inch systems, placing their batteries under heavy strain by enabling Wi-Fi, maximizing brightness, disabling all power-saving functions, and looping music playback. The 13-inch computer held out for just under five hours, while the 15-inch model lasted five hours and 21 minutes. [full story]

June 26 - 11:35am EDT   A recent Apple firmware update is causing major problems for some MacBook Pro owners, talk on Apple's support forums indicates. The update was intended to bring full 3Gbps throughput to the Pro's SATA controller, after it was discovered that the newest models had been artificially limited to 1.5Gbps. While the cap does not affect conventional hard drives, some SSDs cannot operate at peak speeds without the higher threshold. [full story]

June 22 - 9:25pm EDT   Apple on Monday released an EFI firmware update for the MacBook Pro models launched earlier this month. The update brings back support for the 3Gbps SATA specification, although the company warns that it has not offered or qualified drives running at transfer rates higher than 1.5Gbps. Earlier reports indicated the new systems had switched from 3Gbps specifications down to a 1.5Gbps limit. [full story]

June 15 - 3:10pm EDT   Australia's Queensland University of Technology has released health-based recommendations for using high-gloss Apple screens, claiming that reflections can lead to users adopting awkward postures, in turn producing injuries. The report takes a fairly negative stance against the glass found in iMacs, MacBooks and MacBook Pros, and also recommends considering a number of factors that could help alleviate or minimize harm. Injury is only a concern however in cases of intense usage, the university suggests. [full story]

June 15 - 11:45am EDT   Apple has scaled back the SATA interface speeds in some of its new MacBook Pros, testing reveals. Whereas Pros have typically been equipped with 3Gbps SATA, the new 13- and 15-inch systems have been limited to 1.5Gbps. The 17-inch Pro remains unaffected, along with the MacBook Air and the 13-inch plastic MacBook. [full story]

June 15 - 10:05am EDT   NVIDIA this morning turned its attention to its mainstream notebook graphics chips by filling out its GeForce 200M range. The GTS 250M and GTS 260M are targeted at desktop replacement class but relatively affordable notebooks with 28W of peak power. They each have 96 visual processor cores and 1GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus. The two only differentiate in clock speed, as the 250M has a 500MHz graphics clock and 1.6GHz memory while the 260M gets a faster 550MHz graphics speed and 1.8GHz for its RAM. [full story]

June 12 - 4:35pm EDT   Wall Street firms may be missing out on the true significance of Apple's MacBook price cuts, claims Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster. Prices have fallen several hundred dollars in some cases, which Munster argues should mitigate some of the predicted sales decline for the June quarter. Updated MacBooks could push the month of June's growth up as much as 5 percent year-over-year, according to Piper figures. [full story]

June 11 - 8:45am EDT   Pictures of the new MacBook Pro being taken out of its box and disassembled have been posted by iFixit and a blogger on TQB. The blogger's photographs indicate that the packaging of the new Pro has not changed since its predecessor. iFixit has gone in-depth, pulling apart the entire computer and analyzing the differences between current and previous-generation systems. [full story]

June 8 - 1:45pm EDT   In an unusual turn for WWDC, Apple has announced a new 15-inch MacBook Pro. While similar to the existing unibody model, the notebook now has a sealed battery with seven hours of runtime, capable of lasting five years, or 1,000 recharge cycles. The display is said to produce more vivid colors, but the ExpressCard slot is being replaced with the SD format, due to the proliferation of digital cameras. Configuration options run up to a 3GHz Core 2 Duo with 8GB of RAM, and a 500GB hard drive. [full story]

June 1 - 10:55am EDT   Service has been extended for some older MacBook Pro models, an Apple support page reveals. In an article discussing problems with absent or distorted video, Apple notes that machines based on NVIDIA's GeForce 8600M GT may now be repaired for free up to three years after purchase, even if officially out of warranty. The latest the option should be available is September 2011. [full story]

May 29 - 8:45am EDT   Apple has released a v1.3 System Management Controller (SMC) update for 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pro systems. The upgrade adjusts the fan behavior of a Pro when the system is operating under high-workload conditions. Software is installed in the Applications/Utilities folder, and then launched automatically. [full story]

May 22 - 11:20am EDT   The next revision of the iPhone should be characterized by a dramatic increase in processing power, an alleged scoop by veterain technology writer John Gruber says. He refers to "informed" sources who say the iPhone will jump from its existing 412MHz clock speed to 600MHz but adds that a change in architecture should lead to a disproportionately larger increase in performance. Similar to the leap from Intel's 80486 design to the Pentium, the change is large enough that the difference should be more than the 50 percent gain implied by the clock rate increase. [full story]

May 19 - 7:10pm EDT   Speck has released two new cases, the SeeThru and the SeeThru Satin, custom fit for the latest 17-inch unibody Macbook Pro. Both models feature a fully-vented hard shell for protection against everyday bumps and scratches. Users can still access all ports and controls on the computer, including the battery-status button, without removing the case. [full story]

May 12 - 6:50pm EDT   TechRestore is now offering an overnight upgrade service for MacBooks and MacBook Pros, replacing stock hard drives with a new 500GB, 7200 RPM disk. The Seagate ST9500420AS drives have just become available, offering the largest capacity and fastest spindle-speed available in a single 2.5-inch drive. The new devices are unique in that they offer both the highest capacity and the faster spindle speed in one drive. Previous limitations forced laptop owners to choose lower RPM ratings to obtain higher storage capacity, or sacrifice capacity to get the speed of a 7200 RPM drive. [full story]